Novelty’s not the issue. It’s podunk towns trying to compete with internationally-recognized de-facto standards for style. Especially when half of them are ‘we don’t cook half the ingredients’ or ‘we use too much of one ingredient (and for some reason that ingredient is not cheese).’
For comparison, I love some weird sandwiches. I’ll try whatever absurd combination of pickled veg and preserved meat emerged from a broken truck axle and an opportunistic deli owner in nineteen-aught-two. Traditional toppings are egg salad and fennel? Sure, seems legit. Pass the paprika.
But if you say you serve Reubens on sourdough… no you do not. That is not a valid Reuben. Pick another Jewish name. That one is taken, and if you substitute so much as provolone, you’re just doing it wrong.
Novelty’s not the issue. It’s podunk towns trying to compete with internationally-recognized de-facto standards for style. Especially when half of them are ‘we don’t cook half the ingredients’ or ‘we use too much of one ingredient (and for some reason that ingredient is not cheese).’
For comparison, I love some weird sandwiches. I’ll try whatever absurd combination of pickled veg and preserved meat emerged from a broken truck axle and an opportunistic deli owner in nineteen-aught-two. Traditional toppings are egg salad and fennel? Sure, seems legit. Pass the paprika.
But if you say you serve Reubens on sourdough… no you do not. That is not a valid Reuben. Pick another Jewish name. That one is taken, and if you substitute so much as provolone, you’re just doing it wrong.